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Formula of Agreement Response The Formula of Agreement in Confessional Lutheran Perspective The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod The Formula of Agreement in Confessional Lutheran Perspective An evaluation of the Formula of Agreement by the Department of Systematic Theology Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne With a summary and study guide prepared by The Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Permission is given to copy this document as long as there are no changes made to its contents. © 1999 The Office of the President The Commission on Theology and Church Relations The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 1333 South Kirkwood Road St. Louis, Missouri 63122 http://www.lcms.org Table of Contents A Summary of the Seminary Assessment of the Formula of Agreement 7 Study Questions 10 A Theological Assessment of the Formula of Agreement 15 The Text of the Formula of Agreement 35 A Summary and Study of the Seminary Evaluation 1. The 1997 assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted by an 82 percent majority A Formula of Agreement (FOA), which was signed by the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ. This document says that the signatories “rec- ognize each other as churches in which the gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered according to the Word of God.” Perhaps the most significant point of differ- ence that FOA declares to be settled is the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. 2. Regarding this and other historic points of Lutheran- Reformed difference, FOA says: “in light of the radically changed world of the twentieth century, it was deemed inappropriate to defend or correct positions and choices taken in the sixteenth century, making them determinative for Lutheran-Reformed wit- ness today.” In essence, this says that the historic confessions are no longer binding. Such an assertion is perhaps compatible with an open-ended Reformed understanding of confessional sub- scription or with the ELCA constitution which identifies even the Augsburg Confession as simply a “true witness” to the Gospel. It is not compatible with the binding nature of confessional sub- scription in historic Lutheran tradition. The present evaluation of FOA is informed by all of the Lutheran Confessions found in the Book of Concord. 3. Signatories to FOA “recognize each other as churches in which the gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered.” By adopting FOA, the ELCA extends this recog- nition to pastors and congregations who deny or avoid saying that the true body and blood of Christ are present in or under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. But the Lutheran Con- fessions teach precisely this, and they reject the contrary Reformed position (Small Catechism; Augsburg Confession X; For- 7 the formula of agreement in lutheran perspective mula of Concord VII). Lutheran and Reformed doctrine and practice concerning the Lord’s Supper truly are contradictory, not “complementary” as FOA claims. In FOA’s new frame of ref- erence, opposing views are valued as equally acceptable versions of the truth. 4. The adoption of FOA by the ELCA has implications for both pastors and laypeople in that church body. Pastors will act contrary to the Lutheran Confessions, to which they pledged themselves in their ordination vows. Laypeople will participate in communion services led by Reformed ministers in Lutheran or Reformed churches where questions may arise about whether what is distributed is actually the body and blood of Christ. In effect, subscription to the Augsburg Confession by ELCA con- gregations and pastors has been supplanted by FOA’s require- ment of a practice that is contrary to the Lutheran Confessions. 5. FOA holds that while neither Lutherans nor Reformed profess to explain how Christ is present in the Lord’s Supper, both affirm that Christ Himself is present and received in the Supper. This is only partly correct. While it is true that no one knows “how” Christ’s body and blood are present, nonetheless the Lutheran Confessions identify “where” the presence is and “what” is present. In the sacramental union (unio sacramentalis), bread and wine are the body and blood of the Lord. (As Jesus said, “This is My body.”) These are received and eaten and drunk specifically by the mouth (manducatio oralis), and not merely by faith. Also unbelievers eat and drink the true body and blood of Christ with the mouth (manducatio indignorum). Christ is received in the Sacrament precisely because He is present with His body and blood in, with, and under the elements of bread and wine. Simply saying that Christ is the host at the table or that Christ is fully present — without specifically mentioning His body and blood as He did in instituting the Lord’s Supper — is not to con- fess the biblical doctrine of the Sacrament. 6. Identifying what is eaten and drunk in the Lord’s Supper 8 summary and study was the historical point of contention between Lutherans and Reformed. It is simply not true that the two agreed about the fact of the “Real Presence,” but differed only as to the mode of that presence. The Reformed claimed that Christ could not be pre- sent in the Sacrament according to His human nature. They said that a human body can only be in one place at a time, and that Christ’s body is at the right hand of God, understood as a specif- ic place in heaven. 7. FOA raises other issues of concern besides the Lord’s Sup- per. Since the Reformed do not practice emergency baptism, for example, Lutheran parents with a child in danger of death should not expect a Reformed pastor serving their congregation to be overly concerned. Likewise, since FOA speaks of justifica- tion as “including forgiveness of sins and renewal of life,” it is possible for it to say, “there are no substantive matters concern- ing justification that divide us.” But FOA fails to define justifica- tion properly or precisely in Scriptural and confessional terms. 8. In short, FOA simply glides over historic differences that have separated Lutheran and Reformed churches. What was once considered false doctrine by one party or the other is now understood as “mutual misunderstanding and misrepresenta- tion” and “complementary rather than contradictory.” By agree- ing to FOA, the ELCA has effectively denied its own confessional basis by approving positions rejected in the Lutheran Confes- sions. 9 Study Questions (Paragraph numbers refer to paragraphs in the summary above.) Paragraph 1 What is the basic affirmation made by FOA? Paragraph 2 How does FOA’s understanding of the role of confessions dif- fer from that expressed in the Book of Concord itself? See the Preface to the Book of Concord (Tappert ed., pp. 12-14) and the Preface to the Formula of Concord (Tappert ed., pp. 504-506). Paragraph 3 Are Lutheran and Reformed positions on the Lord’s Supper contradictory or complementary? Why? Paragraph 4 What challenges does the adoption of FOA by the ELCA pre- sent for the pastors and laypeople of that church body? Paragraphs 5-6 What are the three hallmarks of Lutheran teaching about the nature of the Lord’s Supper (whether or not you use the Latin catchphrases to refer to them)? Identify the basis for each in 1 Cor. 10:16-17 and 1 Cor. 11:23-29. Why can we say that the body of Christ born of Mary is pre- sent in the Lord’s Supper? See 1 Cor. 10:16-17 and 1 Cor. 11:23- 26. How is it possible that this body is present in the Lord’s Sup- per? See Matt. 28:18, 20; Eph. 1:20-23; 4:7-10; 1 Cor. 15:27; Heb. 2:8. Is it true that Lutherans and Reformed are agreed about the fact of the real presence, but differ only as to the mode or manner of this presence? Why or why not? Historical-critical theologians continue to question whether 10 summary and study Jesus instituted the Holy Supper before His death and whether He rose from the dead. On these premises, what would it mean to say that “the risen Christ imparts himself in his body and blood,” as FOA does, citing an earlier ecumenical document? (See “A Formula of Agreement: A Theological Assessment” by the Department of Systematic Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, pp. 118-119.) Paragraph 7 Briefly describe two theological issues that are raised by FOA in addition to the Lord’s Supper. Paragraph 8 What does it mean to be a Lutheran church? Has the ELCA ceased to be Lutheran in either a confessional sense or an his- toric sense? Why or why not? Why does all of this make a difference? Various answers could be given from different angles. This is perhaps the most impor- tant: The Lord’s Supper is the meal in which, under the bread and wine, Jesus gives His people His body and blood wherein the Lord forgives iniquity and remembers sin no more (Jer. 31:34; Matt. 26:28). Where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation. The Lord has given us His Supper so that we can trustingly receive His body and blood on the way to life everlast- ing. This is too great a treasure to give up! Discuss. 11 A Formula of Agreement: A Theological Assessment Department of Systematic Theology Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana Prelude The August 1997 assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) acted on three documents defining its relationship to three confessional families: the Roman Catholic Church, three Reformed churches, and the Episcopal Church.
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